portola coffee lab

daughter #1 discovered portola coffee lab a while back and she took me on wednesday. it is located in the oc mart mix, otherwise known as the anti-mall. they handcraft each cup individually with beans that were roasted in-house.
they have several brew methods to choose from. among them are the siphon, trifecta & the ever popular pour-over. (i chose the siphon method pictured below). as you can see the baristas are dressed in lab coats, which reinforces the coffee lab theme.

i don't know if it was the coffee i picked (san francisco natural), or the brew method, but it was a sweet, fruity cup of coffee. i am looking forward to my next visit, at which time i will try the trifecta brew method. (sorry, i didn't get a shot of that.)
portola does not pre-brew any of their coffee. each and every cup is brewed after you order it and not one minute before. if you want your coffee quick, this is not the place for you. anything worth having is worth waiting for and this coffee is worth the wait.

portola coffee lab, costa mesa

fiestaware

on a recent trip to the long beach antiques & collectible flea market i found this fiestaware cup and saucer. this is my first fiesta acquisition so i'm thrilled. i've been wanting to start a collection for quite some time now but just never made the initial purchase. they had lots of colors to choose from so it was a hard decision. i am very happy with the colors i ended up getting. i christened it today with a brew of 100% organic italian roast.

sunday funnies #8: coffee break

klatch coffee van

hey, klatch van, wait! i need coffee!!!

caffeinated garden whimsy

in addition to the coffee pot i posted last week, i also had this old percolator. this time, instead of planting in it, i decided to hang it on a small garden hook that was previously holding a little lantern. i positioned it over a coffee cup that is planted with a succulent and placed that on a cinder block that i spray painted orange! these are all things i already had. they were just here and there. think outside the (planter) box and let your imagination run wild. what do you think of my little caffeinated vignette?

coffee w/ bailey #19: the coffee table

last month on our way to swork coffee in eagle rock, we passed the coffee table and i made a mental note to go check them out next time was in the neighborhood. well yesterday we happened to be in the 'hood so we stopped in. it was very enjoyable and relaxing. an added bonus is that they have their own parking lot so we didn't have to pay for street parking!

my cuppa coffee and a delicious biscotti!

bailey enjoying the cafe

the ups truck pulled up to deliver a box to the coffee shop and the nice ups man came over and gave bailey a cookie! i thought that was so nice of him. thanks ups guy!

the coffee table, colorado bl, eagle rock

the los angeles kings win the stanley cup!

i raise my coffee cup to the kings for their first ever stanley cup win! congrats guys!

coffee pot planter

looking for something unusual for your garden? bring your love of coffee to your garden by planting in an old coffee pot. this old pot was in a box of items i was going to donate but instead i decided to repurpose it. it brings a touch of the unexpected to my garden and i love it.

tip: when planting in containers, fill the bottom with plastic bottles from your recycle bin. it'll take up extra space and save you on potting soil.

need. more. coffee.